Firsthand Accounts
Published: 6/23/17
Extra Voices: Bad Officers
Library of Congress Confederate general John C. Pemberton In the Voices section of the Spring 2017 issue of The Civil War Monitor we highlighted first-person quotes about some Union and...
Published: 12/1/16
Extra Voices: Curses
In the Voices section of the Winter 2016 issue of The Civil War Monitor we highlighted first-person quotes about some of the colorful oaths uttered by soldiers and civilians...
Published: 6/9/16
Extra Voices: Souvenirs
In the Voices section of the spring 2016 issue of The Civil War Monitor, we highlighted first-person quotes about the quest—by soldiers and civilians—for battlefield souvenirs. Unfortunately, we didn’t have...
Published: 10/9/13
The Wound Dresser
During the Civil War, renowned poet Walt Whitman served as a nurse. His battlefield medical career began at Fredericksburg, where he tended to wounded soldiers—including his brother. Deeply moved by...
Published: 10/9/13
Civil War Amputation…In Their Own Words.
Throughout the Civil War, surgeons performed approximately 60,000 amputations—the most common battlefield operation. Such drastic measures were a consequence of the damage caused by Minié balls, which often shattered and...
Published: 7/1/13
The Battle in Public: Newspaper Reports from Gettysburg
Undoubtedly, over the next few days newspapers and blogs will provide enthralling details about the Battle of Gettysburg on the 150th anniversaries of each of its three days. In our...
Published: 2/14/13
An 1863 Valentine
Letter from Alexander Hays to Annie Adams McFadden Hays, February 14, 1863 Union Mills, Va., February 14th, 1863. Dear Wife: It has this minute struck me that this is St....
Published: 11/26/12
“Not Since the Days of William the Conqueror” – Anti-War Democrats of Ohio in their Own Words
For me, one of the great joys of researching and writing about Civil War history is “reading other people’s mail.” Whether in archives, digitized sources online, or in books, reading...
Published: 4/12/12
Voice from the Past: “Another Bloodless Victory”
In belated honor of the fall of Fort Pulaski (April 11, 1862), we bring you Miss Susan Walker’s account of the battle: Friday 11th April Heavy firing all morning yesterday...
Published: 4/7/12
Voice from the Past: “Those Savage Yells, And The Sight of Thousands of Racing Figures Coming Towards Them”
We close our Shiloh sesquicentennial celebration with Henry Morton Stanley’s recollection of the battle and the effectiveness of the legendary rebel yell. After a steady exchange of musketry, which lasted...
Published: 4/6/12
Voice from the Past: “Terrible Tales of the Scenes in Corinth”
In honor of Shiloh’s sesquicentennial, we bring you the following voice from the past. Taken from the April 9, 1862 diary of Kate Cumming, it recounts the battle’s deadly aftermath....
Published: 3/21/12
“I will not attempt to hamper you with any minute instructions.”
On March 21, 1862, Major General Henry W. Halleck, commanding Federal forces in the Western Theater, sent this message to Major General John Pope, then commanding forces at New Madrid,...
Published: 3/16/12
The Wild Rose of the South
Good afternoon! Today’s Women’s History Month tribute is of Rose O’Neal Greenhow—also known as “Wild Rose”—the famed Confederate spy. Born in Maryland in 1817, little is known of her early...
Published: 3/15/12
A Lady and A Diary from Dixie
Good morning! Our Women’s History Month celebration continues with this tribute to Mary Boykin Chesnut. Mary Boykin Chesnut is perhaps the best known female diarist of the Civil War. Born...
Published: 3/9/12
Voice from the Past: “In the Monitor Turret”
Good afternoon. In honor of the Battle of Hampton Roads, we bring you another Voice from the Past—this time from the Union perspective. The following is Commander S. Dana Greene’s...
Published: 3/8/12
Voice from the Past: “Great God What a Scene is Presented”
Good Afternoon! We conclude our sesquicentennial tribute of the Battle of Pea Ridge with another Voice from the Past. Good Afternoon! We conclude our sesquicentennial tribute of the Battle of...
Published: 3/8/12
Voice from the Past: “Nothing to Remind me of The Treacherous Days in March of ’62”
Good Morning! The sesquicentennial of the Battle of Pea Ridge continues today. As such, we bring you a special Voice from the Past: Asa Payne’s—of Company E, 3rd Missouri Infantry,...
Published: 3/2/12
“One Side of the War is Theirs” – The U.S. Sanitary Commission
Founded on June 18, 1861 via federal legislation, the United States Sanitary Commission (USSC) was a private relief agency that supported sick and wounded soldiers of the U.S. Army during...